


Hearing It Said

by knittyknicker



Series: Speaking [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Drugged Sex, M/M, Non Consensual, Rape, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-02
Updated: 2012-06-02
Packaged: 2017-11-06 14:21:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/419862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knittyknicker/pseuds/knittyknicker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three times Howard told Tony he was proud of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hearing It Said

**Author's Note:**

> This is pretty messed up, at least in that I wrote it. Read the warnings! Seriously, this made me feel wonky and none of these are my personal triggers. 
> 
> Writen for this kinkmeme prompt:  
>  _The only time Howard Stark ever told Tony he was proud of him was when Tony let Howard bring strangers home to fuck him so Howard could watch_
> 
> +1000 if Howard taped it  
> +100,000 if someone finds the tapes  
> +100,000,000 if Obie continued Howard's legacy in that way. __

“I’m so proud of you.”

Tony’s only heard his father say that phrase to him three times in his entire life, so hearing it as he walks into his living room stops him dead in his tracks. 

He shudders, thinking he is hallucinating, but he turns his head slowly and sees his teammates staring at him, all of them wearing nearly identical looks of horror. 

Tony doesn’t even think. Pivoting on his heel, he bolts.

~~~

The first time he said it, Tony was just thirteen. 

His father was hosting a business meeting at the house while Maria spent the day working at her charity. Tony is allowed to sit in the Library with Howard and his associates as they discussed business and caught up on friends and acquaintances. Howard handed Tony a glass of amber liquid, nodding at his friends and smiling at Tony.

“You’re here with us today because you’re finally old enough that I think you’ll benefit from our gathering.”

Tony couldn’t help but feel proud that his father was allowing him this chance. “I won’t embarrass you.”

Howard nodded. “I know. I’m so proud of you.”

,

~~~

Tony woke up several hours later feeling groggy and tried to sit up. Pain like he’d never experienced before shot up his spine and he cried out. In seconds, Jarvis was there, gathering Tony into his arms as he tried to ascertain what was wrong. Howard walked in moments later, and frowned at his son’s behavior. 

“He’s fine. I let him have some scotch at the meeting and he didn’t hold it very well. Give him some aspirin and let him sleep it off. He doesn’t need to be coddled.”

He turned and walked out of the room and Tony realised that he never made eye contact, speaking like Tony wasn’t even there. That realization hurt almost as badly as his body did.

~~~

He comes to in his lab, crouched behind his work bench and well on his way to hyperventilating and passing out. From the door, he can hear muted voices working to open the door and he calls for Jarvis to initiate a full lock down. Part of the lock down protocol whites out the windows and Tony hears the noise pick up, but he knows that he’s fine for about an hour before they manage to hack the system. 

Thinking quickly, Tony gathers up a few papers and strides towards his cars trying to decide which is the most likely to get him the farthest while being relatively unremarkable. He stands, thoughts frozen, and can’t make up his mind. 

The sound of shattering glass has him whipping around, heart in his throat and he hears the clang of metal on concrete. Steve’s shield rolls across the floor in a wobbly line before falling to spin itself flat. 

The crunch of footsteps follow and Bruce and Steve step toward him. Tony thinks that he must look deranged because both men are wearing their ‘pacify the crazy’ face and he can’t help it. He starts to laugh. He laughs for so long that his sides burn and his throat feels raw and he thinks that passing out is still very much on the table. 

He’s totally aware that his laughter has descended past mad scientist into straight out deranged but he can’t stop. He feels a hand squeeze his bicep and his entire body goes rigid as the laughter cuts off abruptly. His head swims and his vision greys out and the last thing he hears is a voice gasping out “Tony” before his face hits the floor. 

~~~

The second time he said it, Tony was almost fifteen. 

That time there was less subterfuge. His father dragged him into the library again where a group of men were waiting. They sized him up, whispering filthy suggestions under their voices and leering at Tony in a way that made bile creep up his throat. 

He knew what happened to him the last time was wrong, but he had no proof and a history of trouble making, so realistically, the best he could hope for was that it was quick. When his father offered the glass, he took it, slugging down the contents quickly and sitting down to wait for the drugs to kick in. 

Howard clapped a hand to his shoulder “I’m proud of you for taking it like a man.”

~~~

He came awake to the feeling of someone shoving in to him and choked on a grunt. He could see the men surrounding him from his position on the table and from the corner of his eye, saw Howard sitting in an armchair, clutching a glass and watching with an avid look on his face. 

He thought that the dosage he had been given must have been miscalculated, but when he risked another glance, he saw that his father was watching his face closely. For a second, their eyes met and he watched his father’s lips twitch upward in a satisfied smile. 

He stayed awake through the rest of the men, trying to keep his body limp and fighting not to tense up. Finally when they were all finished, conversation picked up and Howard ushered them out of the room before turning back to hiss at Tony to get to his room. 

Slowly, Tony slid his battered, aching body off of the table. His muscles screamed at him as he waited for his trembling legs to take his weight, feeling the cool slick slide of come and oil running down the inside of his thighs. 

He turned and saw his clothing piled onto one of the side tables, pulling out his boxers to wipe away the worst of the mess before tugging his shirt over his head and slowly stepping into his jeans. The buttons were too much for him so he hooked his fingers through the empty belt loops and shuffled to his bedroom before he called for Jarvis to help him.

~~~

Tony wakes up feeling like he’s trapped and he flails to get loose, knocking his head on the floor and making flashes of light spark behind his eyelids. 

“Tony, I’m going to let you go, but you’ve got to stop flailing. There’s glass everywhere.”

“S’yer fault.”

“Yeah, I know, take it out of my SHIELD check.”

Gentle hands support him as he slowly pulls himself to a seated position and he opens his eyes to see Bruce sweeping glass into a pile. Bruce finishes the section he is working on and comes back to where Tony is now sitting on the floor. 

“You want to tell us what just happened?”

“No. I absolutely do not want to discuss it.”

“Well, you have to give us something to go off of, because as it stands, Thor is talking about striking down all those who would harm a child and Natasha and Clint look ready to take out a small country if needed. Tony, who was the boy in the video?”

At that, Tony’s face goes absolutely blank. 

“You know exactly who that boy is.”

“It’s you.”

It isn’t really a question, but Tony treats it as one. “Yeah, that’s me.”

Bruce looks sad but not surprised. Steve, well, Steve looks absolutely gutted. 

“Tony, how could Howard let that happen to you?”

Tony laughs, but it isn’t a happy sound. “Who do you think was holding the camera, Rogers?”

~~~

The final time Howard said it, he’d been dead for a week. 

The funeral was lovely, tasteful and touching, and Tony would have been happier that his father was dead if not for the fact that he took his mother with him. The words of his father’s videotaped farewell race through his brain, the mocking refrain of ‘I’m so proud of the man you are becoming’ echoing in his ears. 

~~~

The reception at Stark manor was finally winding down and Tony was completely bombed. Obie approached, slowing to shake hands and accept condolences, since Tony had started turning people away. He was so very tired and only a few sips from passing out all together as Obie wrapped his hand around the back of Tony’s neck. 

“Your father left me his papers as part of my role in managing Stark Tech until you finish college and part of those files consists of video. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.”

For a single shining moment, Tony thought that someone was finally stepping up to condemn Howard for what he had done.

Stane’s next words shattered Tony’s assumption.

“You’ll do that for me too, won’t you?”

Tony only nodded, but his mind raced, planning for the future. This was the last summer he’d be home for. He’d take extra terms and graduate early, maybe even go straight to graduate school, anything to just stay away until he was an adult and able to protect himself.

Stane continued, seemingly unaware that he didn’t have Tony’s total attention. 

“Your father would be so proud.”


End file.
